He made a public spectacle of them

Colossians 2:15 “Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it” This verse is so awesome that it I can never simply read it without getting drawn into it. Actually ever since God’s Word has been coming alive to me, there are several verses in the bible that capture my attention and get me refreshed. This is one of them. Another one is just five verses prior to this one.

Colossians 2:10 “you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power” These two verses are very tightly related because they are from the same portion of the letter written by Apostle Paul to the Colossians. Let’s take a brief look at them.

Colossians 2:15says that Christ disarmed principalities and powers and then He made a public spectacle of them and He triumphed over them on the cross. Well who can disarm principalities and powers? Only the one who has authority over them and verse 10 clearly declares that Christ is the head of all principality and power. But what I really love about this verse is that Christ made a public spectacle of it. In other words when He was hanging there on the cross, some people could only see shame and ridicule hanging, while others could see defeat, still others may have seen pain, suffering and sorrow. Well there was much more to that. There was sin hanging on the cross [2 Corinthians 5:21(NKJV) – For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us]. There were infirmities and diseases hanging on that cross[Isaiah 53:4(NRSV) – Surely he has borne our infirmitiesand carried our diseases]. All the punishment for our transgressions and iniquities were hanging on that cross [Isaiah 53:5 (NRSV) – But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole].

While the enemy was having a hearty laugh over the situation, I guess he wasn’t prepared for what was to be the outcome of it all. Jesus nailed all these things to the cross and made all these evil powers and principalities a public spectacle. Now, Jesus rose again on the third day, displaying His authority over all these principalities and powers, but when He rose again, Sin, shame, sickness, infirmities, diseases, grief, and sorrow did not rise again in Him. They were all put to death on that cross thus signifying His victory over all these. Truly He triumphed over all these things and coming back to verse 10, you are complete in Him. That means Christ dwelling in you has bought victory over all these things for you. You may say, yes I believe that is true for my life in eternity which I will spend with God, but God says, it is for you now if you can wrap your mind around it[Galatians 1:4 (NLT) – Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live]. So rejoice because you are already a victor over all these things – Believing and understanding this is the first step towards experiencing it.

I have begun to experience victory in these areas, I still have a long way to go, but by God’s grace I am no longer under the dominion of these powers and principalities.